New Ulm Sports Central - Preserving and Sharing New Ulm Area Sports History

Forest Lake has became the final team qualifying for the state VFW tournament starting next Thursday at Austin. This week's Forest Lake Times reported:

"VFW baseball team on to state"
After blowing their first chance to advance to the state tournament Wednesday night, the Forest Lake VFW baseball squad used a four-run bottom of the sixth Thursday afternoon to punch their ticket to Austin. Alek Zentzis pitched 5.1 shutout innings and got the rally going with a double as Post 4210 beat Coon Rapids 4-0. The team will play in a double-elimination, 10-team tournament in Austin Aug. 5-8.

The bracket pairings is attached to an earlier story.

The tournament this year will feature a homerun derby and a skills competition taking place at the unused field during the games throughout the tournament.Austin will be a host team entrant. It's coach is Joe Serratore who is also the chairman for the state event.

Post 1216 won the state title last year, but its squad looks very different this season. The only returnees are Isaac Gorman and Steve Serratore, who will only play the field during state.
“This is kind of a building process,” Post 1216 head coach Joe Serratore said. “We don’t have many back from last year, but about half of these guys will be back here next year.”

Austin, which was able to host state because it took first last season, finished with a record of 8-10 in the District.